Thursday, November 10, 2011

What makes a prophet a Prophet? Or: How I learned to stop worrying and learned to love repetition

What makes a prophet a Prophet? Well, a lot of things. But I think that our support, sustaining, and hope play a vital role in it.

This is related to the scriptural reminder "seek and ye shall find." If we have faith and look for God's word in the teachings of the prophets, we will find it. The collective power in thousands of people coming to the Conference Center in SLC twice a year, and of millions more watching and listening around the world, create an atmosphere of faith in which godly counsel can reverberate in and increase in volume. And that's part of what makes our modern-day prophets Prophets. The expectations coming in and the ensuing discussion and study improve the whole experience.

This approach also helps me cope with the fact that--let's face it--a lot (almost all?) of what we hear from modern-day prophets is not new or groundbreaking in its substance. We already know we need to have faith, study the scriptures, love and serve one another, pay tithing, etc. But the expectation that we can hear God's voice in their words helps us get to a deeper level: we see old things in new ways that are more personal, a phrasing sticks out at us as more clear than previous explanations, our hearts are open to (sometimes completely unrelated) personal revelation from on high, and so forth.

I'm not explaining this very well. But I'm very grateful for modern-day prophets, seers, and revelators. I know that they speak for God and help us more fully understand and live Christ's gospel. Part of what gives them such strength and power is the sustaining votes you and I give them. So thank you!